Mass Effect: The Second Spectre-Part One
by Demo ODST
Summary: After the death of Commander Shepard, the Alliance is scrambling for a new face to spearhead as Humanity's hero. Almost everyone is shocked when a young solider is placed up for candidacy for the next human Spectre. Will he have what it takes to join the rank of the most elite protectors of the Galaxy?
1. Chapter 1

**So i am only going to post one chapter of this until a week from now. if i deem this idea popular enough to continue it at that point, i will, but if i dont, then i will pull it down from this sight. so please, whether it is by message or review, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS! also, i can tell you now, this will be a three part series, and although there will be few direct Shepard moments in part one, there will be a lot in parts two and three. he will appear in some memory flashes as well. and i just kinda had to update it, forgot a few things and added a little bit, sorry. some of this i was going to do as chapter two but i decided on bigger chapters.**

* * *

Staff Sergeant Matthews of the forty-seventh marine Battalion glanced back at the squad of soldiers trailing behind him. All of them, much like himself, were wearing black Onyx armor of various levels befitting their combat rolls. Mid weight for riflemen, light for scouts, and heavy for assault type troops. All except one. Corporal Damion Wolfe, the squad's demolitions expert, wore special Hahne-Kadar he had custom made for him. it had a small angular breast plate with a layer of malleable reactive 'Soft' armor visible under it and across his stomach, which hardened when hit, while still allowing movement. Most of the underlay was coated with this 'soft' armor in plates. Then, more like old fashioned body armor, the heavier plates were part of two sectional rigs, that could be worn with or without the under lay. The main rig contained the chest plate, back plate, shoulder plates, and the bulky upper arm plates. Off this rig, were connecters for the arm plates and elbow pads. His fore arm plates had locking collars just behind his wrists, almost flush with the armor, so that he could pull thicker full fingered gloves over his fingerless gloves and seal the armor. The other rig was a lower rig that was attached to a tactical belt around his waist. This had thigh armor on it, with connectable knee and greaves as well. Off this belt, he also had two drop down rigs, one on each thigh.

One had his old personal pistol that he had upgraded with modern Eezo cores and magnetic rails. It had to be in a holster, unlike modern weapons, because it did not have electro magnets to attach to his armor with, the holster having a spare mag on the front of it. Although, the pistol still fired solid slugs, rather than the shaving blocks modern weapons used. Solid rounds had been deemed to inefficient by the alliance government. The other thigh had a Molle rig with a twelve inch combat knife, a two mag pouch for his pistol, and a small pouch carrying grenades. Along his belt were two more two mag pouches for the pistol, and multiple rifle pouches. This normally just contained small cylindrical thermal clips, but one of his pouches had a special magazine. He had modified his M-96A1 Mattock so that it ejected its thermal clips from right in front of the magazine in the stock. The reason for this, was the magazine, firing assembly, and barrel had all been modified to be able to fire both eight millimeter solid slugs, and block shavings. The thermal clip housing was technically a part of the magazine on his. The barrel had also been removed in favor of a thin metal wall to protect the delicate electronics underneath. This made the bore eight point zero five millimeters in diameter. Thus, allowing an eight millimeter slug to pass through. Now, to allow both ammo types to pass through without the shavings ricocheting along the barrel, he had upgraded the magnetic rail, and twisted it down the barrel, creating the rifling effect with the magnetic fields. Most rifles still used old style rifled barrels, tight on the rounds sent down them. He was still in the process of tweaking the positioning and power levels of the magnets to get the accuracy right, but it actually reduced the heat from firing. Thus, leaving the standard thermal clip to act the same regardless of the rounds fired. The afore mentioned magazine, was the only slug mag he had, loaded with sixteen solid tungsten slugs. The rest of the weapon was virtually the same.

Thermal clips stored the built up heat from the weapon firing, allowing you to eject the clip and rapidly cool the weapon. The reason this was needed, was because of the speeds rounds were fired at. The Eezo core in the weapon put up a field that caused the round to react as if it had less mass than it really did, allowing magnetic rails to sling rounds out at extremely high velocities. As soon as the round leaves the barrel, it leaves the mass effect field, causing it to regain it's full mass, and therefore, impacting with much greater force than older kinetic weapons. They used a metal shaving block as the source of the rounds, allowing a soldier to fire thousands of rounds without needing a new magazine.

"Hey, Wolfe! Get your ass up here!" he looked up before trotting forward, marching beside Matthews. His gauntlets bounced on the back of his hip as he moved, hiding the faceplate beneath. His helmet was also far from standard, designed similarly to old fashioned helmets from almost a century ago, with a chin strap instead of a jaw piece. His ears and head were still covered, but his face was fully exposed to the elements, with the exception of his eyes. The helmet had a set of retractable glasses that covered his eyes, worked by a slider on either side of the helmet. A small mic protruded off of the right ear cover, pointed at his mouth. The helmet was sealable against the vacuum of space, using a faceplate that was a jaw bar with a clear ballistic polymer over the face that easily snapped in place, allowing the ring on the underlay to be latched onto the helmet and seal the armor. The Heads up display was also just a holographic eyepiece over his right eye, unlike the laser made hologram's projected onto the standard helmet's clear visor.

"Yes Staff Sergeant? Need something?" the sergeant rolled his eyes as they walked.

"Yeah, you to work the stick out of yer ass! Come on, is it not alright for an NCO to want to know the guys beneath him?" Wolfe grunted, shifting the assault pack on his shoulders. The pack was a deep grey, like the rest of his armor, holding a large amount of explosives. It also had a special sleeve that he could slip his collapsed Mattock into and still access it. On his belt beneath, was a much smaller pack. This was the HUD system and long range radio for his helmet, the wire that connected them snuggly hidden under his armor.

"Respectfully Staff Sergeant, but this is a patrol. I believe it would be more appropriate to have this conversation another time." Matthews sighed and stared up at the stars above them, a silent curse drifting through his mind.

"Rookie, this is a back water, the Geth aint got no reason to strike here. And I would try and chat with you during down time, but when you're awake, you're at the range tweaking that monstrosity of yours." Wolfe shrugged, his eyes still scanning the wide desert landscape.

"My job is my passion sir." He sighed, trying to think of what to respond to that with. "Um sir, we got movement, three hundred and fifty meters, right flank. Large group." Matthews stopped to look back at Wolfe, seeing him aiming down the built in scope on the Mattock. Matthews followed the line of his rifle, seeing the large group, numbering at least one hundred individuals against their measly twenty-five man squad. Before he could start issuing orders, bullets started raining down on them from the unidentified group.

"Down! Watkins, Romero, get drones up and get us numbers and equipment data, Booth, Hayward, suppressive fire!" Booth and Hayward were squad support troops, carrying powerful M-76 Revenants capable of firing ninety powerful rounds on a single clip. Watkins and Romero were engineers, and carried small recon drones. Most combat forces in the galaxy used satellite surveillance or large, fighter sized recon drones, nothing like the small Frisbees his marines just deployed. He glanced beside him, expecting to see Wolfe plinking rounds away from beside him. Instead, there was no sign of him, anywhere. Suddenly, a pair of explosions rocked the enemy force, followed by a volley of rifle fire, cutting down at least five of the assailants, spat from a rock out cropping off the enemies flank. He recognized the angular armor as Wolfe's, but he had no idea how the man had gotten there.

"Staff, Batarians, lightly armed and mostly unarmored!" the shout came from a short way away, specifically, from Watkins.

"Alright! Hayward, take three men and move to Wolfe's position, and ask how the bloody hell he got there! Everyone else, suppressive fire!" four of the black clad marines sprinted forward, ducked low as bullets pinging off their kinetic barriers. Matthews fired his M-8 Avenger, the sleek weapon rattling off thirty rounds in the space of a couple seconds. He quickly ejected the thermal clip, slapping a fresh one in at the same time. Meanwhile, the four man team made it to Wolfe's position, a few expertly placed smoke grenades having hidden their movements. Weapons fire ripped away from their position, causing the remaining four eyed humanoids to retreat, half their comrades lying dead in the sand.

"Good work men! But they'll be back! They always are! Status?" the group started calling out casualties, with only a few minor grazes. Wolfe's voice was the last to speak.

"Lost a bunch of smokes covering Hayward, and two demo charges, but nothing went through the barriers staff!" he smirked as the group shuffled to the cluster of bodies before them. Most of the dark skinned, hairless aliens were in street clothes, with old, beat up firearms. A few had basic chest plates, but not one seemed to have any kind of decent tech. he sighed as he called up command, getting ready to tell them what had just happened.

* * *

Commander John Shepard marched out into a wide concrete canal, his four team mates following behind him. to his right was a large, open feed for the canal, his left had a wider circular area with a massive pillar in the center that the water was flowing into. The water was only knee deep as he slipped into it, his M8 raised and ready. All of his muscles trembled slightly, as they always did just after a firefight, but he knew the second anything happened, they would relax again. He finally lowered the weapon as he called to the others.

"Clear!" he clicked his radio on before he continued. "Joker, landing zone clear, bring in the Normandy!" he glanced back at his companions as they waited for the frigate to arrive. All four of them were aliens, in order of the closest to him, Garrus, Wrex, Liara, and Tali.

Garrus was a Turian male from the planet, Palavan. He had a very wide, barrel chest that his armor protruded up from, and his face and neck were covered in natural grey plates. Although these plates looked hard, they were actually fairly soft, only there to protect the Turian from the powerful radiation his native star put off. His mouth was very beak like, with two mandibles running along where his cheeks had been, then sharply thinning and curving down at his mouth. These mandibles could move and shift on their own, giving him a semi creepy bug like movement whenever he talked. His eyes slanted at a downward angle, and unlike human eyes, they were all black, save the aura like iris, which his happened to be a silvery blue. Long, spike like head fringe stuck straight back off the top of his head, arcing down only slightly. There was his ever present marksmen's rig, nothing more than a holographic eyepiece, covered his left eye, leaving his right eye a clear view of his scope. He was an ex-C-sec officer, or the main police force on a massive deep space station known as the Citadel, and also happened to be the seat of the main galactic government. He was also one of the best snipers Shepard had ever known.

Next, was Wrex. Almost two feet taller than Shepard, and generally massive in every meaning of the word, made him big even by Krogan standards. This humpback looking race hailed from a harsh, nuclear waste of a world known as Tuchanka. His head was actually entirely on the front of his body, almost a fourth of what would have been his chest. His arms were just below his head, giving him a slightly more humanoid look. His entire body was covered in thick, hard red plates, forming natural armor from even modern mass accelerator weapons. Not that his heavy weight thick battle armor was bad at that. His neck and lower face was one of the few unarmored spots on his body, being a mild tan color. And the shape of his head honestly reminded Shepard of a fish, with his very wide mouth and small, far apart eyes. Most Krogan were nothing more than mercenaries or criminals, being almost always angry. And that anger, caused their race to be nearly wiped out by a Salarian engineered virus, called the genophage that massively slowed the Krogan's insane birthrate. Krogan could also live for over a millennia, if they managed to survive their violent nature. Although Wrex never said his age, Liara had guessed it was close to two thousand years old.

Liara was the most human like of all of the aliens, being a blue skinned Asari. All Asari were biologically, female. They mated through a form of meta-physical means, instead of physical. Most of her features were very human like, from her sapphire eyes and face, down to the freckles with three major exceptions. First, as afore mentioned, she was blue, second, she had no visible ears, and third, she had head fringe, similar to a Turian's, but only rising an inch off the back of her head, before curling back toward her head a little. Asari could also live for over a thousand years, but Liara was extremely young for an Asari, being just over a century old. Which generally shocked Shepard because she looked like she could be a nineteen year old. She had been a scientist, specializing in the extinction of a fifty thousand year old race, known as the Protheans. Although, it would seem that a career like that would be ill-suited for fighting, she was a powerful biotic, as almost all Asari were. Biotics were individuals that are exposed to an element known as element zero, or Eezo, while in the womb. With some implants, they could control dark energy, or Mass Effect. In short, it was like telekinesis. Most races had biotics to various degrees, but the Asari, due to a very high concentration of Eezo on their home world, were a race entirely made of biotics.

Tali, the last member of their little band, was the youngest of them all. At only nineteen, she was nearly a decade younger than Shepard. No one in the group was quite as mysterious as her, physically, at least. Her race, the Quarians, had been living on starships for the last three hundred years, after accidently making a sentient race of machines, known as the Geth. This, coupled with already weaker than normal immune systems, forced them to wear environmental suits virtually everywhere, except for at home. Although the suits were not bulky, and even Shepard had to admit, very form fitting, only the older Asari and Krogan could remember what the Quarians looked like under the suit. She was much slimmer than a human would be, with wider hips and more distinctly feminine. She also, like Garrus, had only two fingers and a thumb on each hand, as well as only two toes. Her face was not visible under the purple face mask on the suit, only a dark outline and silver eyes being visible. She also had an intricately decorated hood over the mask, adding some color and personality to her suit. Out of all four of the aliens, she was actually Shepard's closest friend, having helped teach her how to really fight over the past month. She was on her pilgrimage, or her rite of passage too adult hood.

Finally, the Normandy arrived, the air from her rapid movement blasting water at the small group. The ship was comprised of a long main fuselage, almost like an old fashioned jet, with a flat sleek bottom and rounded upper hull. The bottom sharply angled downward just before the engine booms, roughly two thirds of the way from the bow, allowing for the cargo bay and engineering to have the space they needed. The main engines were a part of two long flat structures, connected to the hull just behind the fuselage and extending forward and back a fair distance, reaching most of the way to the front of the ship and just beyond the back. The other two engines were on long, bent shafts connected to the hull just under the where the other two did. They were able to swing and move, adjusting the thrust direction. The cargo door opened as the ship lowered to the ground, allowing Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams to march down the ramp with three other marines and a Salarian drive core, modified into a nuclear bomb. She was a dark haired and dark eyed woman, with a no frills, no bullshit attitude. Which caused Shepard to laugh a little at her white armor, with pink highlights. He had gotten to know the tough woman very well in the month since she had joined the crew, quickly finding that he deeply cared for her, whether it was against Alliance military regulations or not.

"How's the bomb doing Ash?" she smirked at him as they set it down right where the Salarians had said too.

"Almost ready. Just need a few minutes to arm it sir." He nodded and patted her shoulder as his radio buzzed to life.

"This is Alenko! We're pinned down by Geth up on the Gun tower, we will not be able to make the rendezvous!" Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was one of the other Marines serving on the SSV Normandy, under Shepard's command. He was a human biotic, and a powerful one too. He had joined the Salarian Special Task Group's forces in a main assault on Saren's base. The assault team was more of a distraction, so that Shepard's 'shadow team' could slip in and secure the bomb sight. Saren had been a Turian Spectre, like Shepard now was, until Shepard had shown to the Council that he had gone rouge. Afterwards, the Council had made Shepard the first human Spectre. Spectres were a special branch of the Council's forces, able to break laws and regulations as needed to complete their mission. They were selected from the best, most loyal troops in Citadel space.

"I need a few minutes to arm the bomb anyway, go get him!" Shepard nodded to Ashley as she spoke, almost instantly turning to the others.

"Tali, Liara, back on the ship, Wrex, Garrus, with me!" Tali and Liara nodded as he flicked his radio on. "Kaidan, we are on are way, hold on!"

"Good, I could use more things to shoot!" Wrex's voice was filled with anger. Krogan were usual easy to anger, but Wrex was angry about destroying this base, given Saren had developed a cure for the Genophage. But, after a tense conversation, Shepard had gotten the Krogan to stand down and help fight, making him realize that the Krogan were just a tool to Saren. They moved through a large cargo door and found themselves face to face with a group of Geth. Geth were built similarly to Quarians, except with barrel chests, and a thin neck leading to a single glowing eye, two flaps drooped on either side of this eye, making the look rather depressed. Shepard fired his M8 the second he saw them, the shear rate of fire on the weapon ripping through the kinetic barriers and killing two Geth before they could respond. Another Geth was cut down by a blast from Wrex's massive shotgun, literally blasted apart. Two more were cut down by a pair of sniper rounds from Garrus's M-97 Viper sniper rifle. The last Geth in the area was a Juggernaut. Juggernauts were larger, tougher Geth, originally built for mining purposes. Shepard emptied the last few rounds in his thermal clip into it, already grabbing another clip and slapping it in place, just as the weapon stopped firing. The red hot spent clip shot away from the weapon and the weapon kept firing. The combined fire of the three of them dropped the juggernaut before it could even fire a single shot. They ran across the open roofed room and slipped into an elevator, Shepard impatiently flexing his fingers as he waited for the elevator to finish grinding its way up. They rushed out onto the roof, just as a Geth Dropship whipped by overhead.

"Ash, you got a drop ship on its way to you!" Ash's voice spilled over the radio shortly after Shepard's shout.

"It's already here! And it's bleeding Geth all over the place!" Shepard cursed before he responded.

"Can you hold them Ash?" silence stretched on for seconds as fear crept its way into Shepard's heart.

"Negative commander! I'm arming the nuke!" Shepard's heart felt like it had skipped a beat.

"Ash, what the hell are you doing!" he felt the blood rush away from his cheeks, his heart feeling like someone was ripping it out.

"I'm making sure this bomb goes off! Just go get the Lieutenant and get the hell out of here, sir!" he closed his eyes, not wanting to say what he was about to.

"I… okay. I'm sorry Ash." Four lives, versus seventeen. The choice should have been simple. But it wasn't.

"Hey, it should be me sayin that Commander. Sorry I never got to show you those dance moves John." He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes and rushed to the elevator that lead up to the gun tower. At the top, there was a whole platoon of Geth troops. Caught off guard by the sudden flanking attack (not to mention the very angry Krogan), the Geth were quickly cut to pieces, Shepard only dropping two of his thermal clips. He rushed over to Kaidan and the others as he spoke into the radio. "Joker, Bring the Normandy in to the gun tower. Landing zone is cl…" before he could finish speaking, a pair of biotic blasts ripped into the ground, forcing Sheppard into cover. The cybernetic Turian, Saren, was floating up to their position on a floating hover board. He leapt off to the ground and Shepard popped out of cover, firing a burst of rounds at him. They bounced harmlessly of his barriers.

"This has been an impressive diversion Shepard. My Geth were utterly convinced that the Salarians were the real threat. Of course, it was all for nothing, I can't let you disrupt what I've accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake!" Shepard grunted as he slapped in a fresh thermal clip, trying to keep Sarens attention on him so his team could move into flanking positions.

"I know what the Reapers are, and what they've done. So yeah, I know what's at stake here." Saren shook his head.

"Shepard, you of all people should understand what the Reapers are capable of! We should not Mire ourselves in pointless revolt against them when we could never win! Not for petty freedoms when we have a chance at survival! The Protheans tried to fight, but they were utterly destroyed! But what if they had bowed before the invaders? Would they still be around today? Is submission not preferable to extinction?" Shepard chuckled as his team got into position.

"Your cowardly ass talks too much." Shepard fired, his rounds slamming into Sarens barrier, along with almost two dozen other weapons. He jumped back on his hover board and fired a few more shots at Shepard before blasting him and all of his team onto their asses.

"What a pity. The lives we could have saved together Shepard!" He picked Shepard up by the throat as he spoke.

"Slavery is not a life, Saren!" as he said that, he pulled his M6 Carnifax hand cannon off his side and fired. It was intercepted by the Kinetic Barrier, but it caused Saren to stumble back, letting go of Shepard as he tried to stay on the hover board. Shepard barely caught the edge of the tower as the sound of the Normandy's engines filled the air. Saren's red tick mark on his HUD disappeared as Kaidan and Garrus hauled him onto the platform. The Normandy lowered to the tower, barely managing to get close enough for the bay door to rest on the edge of the tower. He rushed up as Tali and Liara fired onto the fresh Geth reinforcements. As soon as the remaining survivors were on board, the door closed and the ship lifted away. Shepard rushed up to the Combat Information Center. Where the galaxy map usually was, there were currently two holographic screens. One, showed Ashley's helmet camera, the other, the receding base. "Joker! Turn this bucket around and get her out of there!"

"There's no time Shepard! I'm sorry." his heart was ripped out as the vitals on Ashley's screen showed a soon to be lethal hit on her abdomen. A single tear slipped out of his eye as he watched her sidearm bounce between Geth targets. Suddenly, the image turned to static, and the one of the planet below showed a massive nuclear mushroom cloud.

* * *

I trotted along with the rest of the unit, until a familiar voice called out to me.

"Hey! Damion!" I couldn't help but smirk as the small farm girl rushed across the field to the fence we were marching past. A few of the others raised an eyebrow at me as I stopped, including the Staff Sergeant.

"Hey Natalie. Whacha up to?" she was smiling as she leaned up against the fence, brushing some of her deep red hair out of her eyes.

"Oh, just pulling weeds. Damn things are being stubborn this year." Her bare arms were covered in dirt, as well as her knees, and she had clearly rubbed her face at some point, leaving a brown smudge. Surprisingly enough, I thought the seventeen year old looked much prettier covered in dirt and grease, not that she wasn't pretty in the first place. She had a fairly round, soft face and deep emerald green eyes that someone, namely myself, could easily get lost in. even though she was two years younger than me, we had become friends in the three months I had been on Ariel with my unit.

"Sounds fun." She chuckled and smiled, it instantly fading away when she saw the deep scratch in my chest plate.

"Wait, what the hell is that!?" she was pointing at it and I shrugged, trying to seem calm.

"It's nothing, just landed on a rock, that's all." I silently hoped she wouldn't pry further, knowing it was probably in vain. I would rather not cause a panic by saying we had been attacked by a group of Batarian Slavers.

"So why the hell were you falling!?" I shied away slightly at the sheer force of her shout.

"I just tripped, shesh, happens to everyone." She eyed me suspiciously, clearly not fully believing me, but content to just let it go.

"Alright. Well how's the modding of that Mattock going?" she may not always look like it, but she was a bit of a gun nut, and was planning on joining the marines herself when she finished school in a few months.

"Fine. Still fine tuning the Magnetic barrel. Don't think it will ever be able to make as precise of shots as it could before. But, aside from that, the high mass slugs do penetrate armor a hell of a lot better." She smirked and swung her legs over the fence to sit on it.

"Well, that's great! Just wish you'd let me shoot the damn thing." I rolled my eyes at her and took my helmet off, letting the cool breeze cool my exhausted body. I ran a hand through my short hair, feeling it barely reach beyond my fingers. "Tired?" I nodded and she continued. "Well, if Matthew's doesn't mind, Mom's making some of her famous stew. Heck, she's making enough that you could ask a few of your team mates to come to!" I sighed as I dropped the helmet back onto my head and secured the strap.

"I'd love to, but cant. We got another night patrol in a couple hours. Sorry." She nodded and I waved to her as I started to jog after my squad.

"Alright, see ya around, soldier boy!" I smirked as I slowly caught back up with the rest of the unit. I caught up with my squad mates and slowed back down.

"Hey Wolfe, get your ass up here!?" I sighed and began jogging again until I reached the front of the group. "Who was that sweet looking thing?" I rolled my eyes at the Staff Sergeant before responding.

"Just a local farm gal I met on patrol once. Reminds me of my sister." He smirked as he responded.

"You had a sister? Huh, me and the boys were fairly certain you just sprang out of a hole in the ground with a gun in your hands!" I couldn't help but roll my eyes again as he spoke.

"Ha Ha, very funny sir. And not physically, just called her my sister. She died of cancer about four years ago." His face darkened slightly as he patted my shoulder.

"Well, for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry. Glad there is at least some semblance of a human in there" I nodded and kept walking, suddenly feeling extremely bad for lying about my 'sister's death.

* * *

Tali bit her lip, hesitating outside Shepard's door. It had only been a few hours since they had gotten off Virmire, and they had gone through a shouting match between Kaidan and Shepard about Ashley's death. She had also over heard Shepard yelling at the council, presumable about the fact that he detonated a nuclear device. She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. there was no sign of movement on the other side, so she gently knocked on the door again, pressing her faceplate to the metal as she spoke.

"Shepard, are you in there?" she jumped as the door slid open. Shepard looked exhausted, his blue eyes had dark bags under them, and she could swear he had fresh tears on his cheeks.

"Hey Tali. Did you need something?" she fought the temptation to wrap her arms around him and settled on gesturing inside the small cabin.

"May I come in?" he nodded and let her by. She sat down in his desk chair as he flopped onto the bed. "How are you holding up Shepard?" he shrugged, just staring up at the metal bulkhead above his bunk.

"I've lost soldiers before Tali. It's part of combat." She fought back sighing as she responded.

"Williams wasn't just a soldier to you. Don't try to fool us Shepard." He groaned as he rolled over to face her. She could see a fresh tear slide out of his eye.

"Ash was… special. I… I wish I could have saved her." it scared her to see the amount of pain he was in. someone whom she had come to know as being incredibly tough, almost unshaken by anything, brought to tears.

"We all do." Shepard remained silent, returning to his staring at the ceiling. "Well, Shepard, I'm always here for you. No matter what happens."

"Tali, call me john. I think you've earned that much. No one else is left that has seen who I really am but you. Ash… Ash was the other… I… thank you Tali, you are a great friend." She felt blood rush to her cheeks and found herself very thankful for the mask.

"Okay, john. And you did save my life. You don't have to thank me." Shepard nodded as she slipped out of the seat and gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Let's just make sure we nail this bastard!" She nodded as she stood up, offering a hand up.

"We will. You haven't failed yet, you are not going to start now." He wiped away his tears as he stood. They were both silent for a few minutes, until he gently hugged her and walked out, leaving her alone in his room.


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is the full second chapter, i'm sorry that took me so long to write. anyway, i hope you enjoy, share this with your friends, and please, do review!**

* * *

I slipped my thumbs into my belt as I walked with Natalie back to her farm. My rifle was neatly collapsed and in a slot I had made in my assault pack, having been forced to remove the electro magnets to modify the weapon system.

"So, you guys are being shipped out?" I nodded and she looked away, clearly bothered about it.

"Yeah, were going out to the Armstrong nebula. Geth were forces were moving in, but some Spectre dealt with them. We're just being sent to set up defenses in case they try to move back in." I had asked my lieutenant if I could come say goodbye before our last patrol. All of our un-needed equipment was packed, and the ship that was taking us off world was going to arrive during our final patrol.

"You'll keep in touch, right?" I smiled to her as she spoke, wishing I could hug her.

"I'll do my best, but once I'm out there, personal messages are heavily restricted." She frowned, kicking at the dirt beneath our boots.

"Well, that just sucks. I am really going to miss you." I stopped her and wrapped my arms around her, knowing that hugging a fully armored soldier was probably not too comfortable.

"I'm going to miss you too." I felt a tear slide out of my eye as I spoke. She gently kissed my cheek and I froze, shocked.

"Just promise me you will come back okay?" before I could lose my sudden burst of courage, I turned my head slightly and kissed her on the lips, both of us froze. She leaned back slightly, clearly stunned. She was about to speak when I put a single finger on her soft lips.

"For if I don't come back. Okay?" she nodded, blushing furiously, her cheeks nearly the color of her dark red hair.

"Okay. Just promise me you will?" I laced my fingers with hers, my smile weakening.

"I'll do my best." She sighed, her brow wrinkling up as she glared at me.

"That isn't promising me anything, Damion." I sighed and forced her to look me in the eye.

"We both know I can't make that promise. But I will do everything I can to keep it. Ya know, you look cuter when you're angry." Her glare intensified and she gently punched my arm. But, a small trace of a smile was at the edges of her lips.

"Oh just shut up, soldier boy." I grinned when my radio suddenly lit up.

"Wolfe! Get your ass back here! We got Geth on approach!" I let go of her hand and grabbed my rifle out, Natalie giving me a worried look.

"Mother fucker! Rodger that Staff sergeant!" I clicked my radio off and shoved Natalie toward her house. "Just go! Get your parents and hide!" before she could say anything back, I sprinted off toward the main colony, my weapon unfolding and extending on its own.

* * *

Shepard climbed through the side hatch and back into the Mako, followed closely by his team. They had managed to squeeze all six of them in the five man vehicle. Tali was bracing herself on the back of Shepard's seat, Garrus was manning the cannon, and Kaidan was at the Nav Console.

"Alright, by what that VI said, the Conduit isn't far. Garrus, hit anything that gives us a funny look." He pressed down on the gas pedal and the Mako leapt down the waterlogged tunnel. It lurched slightly as they bounced over logs and so on. Suddenly, the entire rover shook as the ninety millimeter anti-vehicle cannon fired, easily blasting an armature apart. The four legged machines almost looked like long necked dinosaurs, firing both anti-infantry rounds and anti-tank rounds from their heads. The rover started vibrating in bursts as the HUD highlighted anti-tank missiles. Sheppard wove back and forth, narrowly dodging the rockets while Garrus expertly shredded the Geth troops. Within minutes, they were rounding a corner to a downward ramp, having left what seemed like an entire company of dead Geth trailing behind them. Through the dense over growth of what would have been an open air run off, they could see what looked like a miniature mass relay, pointed skyward.

"Well, there it is." Everyone seemed to just freeze, staring at the miniature mass relay. A blue streak whipped through the sky, running along the relay. This marked a ship or item going through it.

"Fuck! That has to be Saren!" Shepard gunned the engines at the sound of Garrus's voice. The Mako ripped down the water way, bouncing every time they hit a hidden root or furrow. They reached the bottom and found five massive Armatures in a river valley at the bottom. A massive ramp on the other side lead up to the relay.

"Garrus! Just annoy them, don't worry about killing!" Shepard gunned the engine and followed the river, headed straight for the ramp. Blue balls of super-heated plasma ripped past. One of them impacted on the Mako, blasting away the kinetic barrier and burning the hull just beside the turret.

"Armor integrity holding, but we can't take another hit like that!" Sheppard fought the urge to glare at Kaidan as he ducked and weaved through the water, narrowly dodging plasma shots from the Geth. The Mako hit the ramp and he screwed trying to dodge, simply gunning for the Mass Relay. Suddenly, just as he felt himself float, he felt something slam into the Mako, and a warning alarm went off.

* * *

I slipped through the quiet streets, making sure my chest was facing wherever my rifle was. Most races across the galaxy taught to make yourself the slimmest target possible. But, the Alliance taught it's soldiers to always face your chest to the enemy, because that meant your thickest, toughest piece of armor was always facing the enemy. I tried to move as quietly as I could, knowing that it was near silent, but against Geth, no sound was quiet enough. As I moved deeper into the small town, I started seeing signs of combat, but still, not one sign of life, alive or dead.

"Staff Sergeant? Anyone still out there?" before there was time to get a response, blue plasma bolts started ripping into the prefab beside me, I dropped to the ground and rolled onto my side, empting my thermal clip at them in seconds. Most of the sixteen rounds soared past the two Geth in the alley way, but both troopers dropped, almost like they didn't have their barriers up. My entire body shook as I fumbled with ejecting the thermal clip and slapping the fresh one in the slot, the unfamiliar position slowing me down. My breath was coming in ragged gasps as I tried to bring it back under control.

"Wolfe! Stay out of the town! Damn place is crawling, Civies are down, and we got these damn, electric zombies on our asses! Just stay away kid!" I cursed as I leapt to my feet.

"Staff! Where the hell are you!? I aint leavin you out here!" I tapped a few commands on my wrist computer, trying to find a way to triangulate their position.

"Negative kid! Hunker down! Stay out of sight! There's got to be a whole damned division coming down on our asses!" I finally managed to find them and I disabled my Kinetic Barriers, activating an active camouflage suite I had built into my armor. Although I still made noise, it masked all visual ways of tracking me, including thermal. It also threw out random RADAR and LADAR signals, confusing those types of scans. My feet carried me through the city, my body no longer shaking. Strangely, I was suddenly perfectly calm, knowing what I had to do. I rounded a corner and instantly froze, my eyes going wide.

There was a… creature, for lack of a better term, standing within feet of me. It looked human, if massive sections of it's flesh hadn't been seemingly stripped off, with what little remained turned a dark, dead grey. Everywhere that the flesh was gone, looked like synthetic fiber that pulsed with an eerie blue light. It turned to face me, almost like it knew I was there. It's eyes were just blue lights, and more of that light spilled out when it's mouth opened, letting loose a blood curdling screech. My blood seemed to freeze in my veins and I instinctively fired, the three high powered rounds just tearing through the creatures chest without even flinching it. I started firing more as it charged me, my cloaking already having failed. All of the rounds that hit seemed to have no effect on the husk like creature. It tackled me to the ground, knocking my rifle away as I fought to knock it off of me. It was insanely strong, but I managed to grab my side arm and fired at it. The heavy slug tore clean through its chest and out its head. It slumped against me and I shoved it off, three more coming out of the buildings around me.

"Mother…" I aimed and fired, going for the head, just like all of the old zombie vids. The three creatures dropped as I scrambled for my rifle, swapping out the thermal clip as I stumbled to my feet and ran. I heard gunfire and slowed to a stop, seeing a mass of Geth infantry. One of these Geth was simply massive, almost twice that of the standard Geth troopers. I quickly swapped the magazine out for the solid slug rounds and fired. The rifle bucked up against my shoulder, nothing like the low recoil rounds normally fired by the weapon. But, on the receiving end, the Geth prime's barriers held, even though the massive creature was staggered by the shot. I continued to fire, pounding all sixteen slugs into it. The Prime, although large, could not withstand the force behind the rounds, and was blasted into chunks. Small groups of the Geth turned to engage me, but turned to find nothing there. I had already reactivated my cloak and ran to a new position, reloading the shavings mag. I leaned out of cover and opened fire again, the high powered mattock easily cutting through Geth barriers and their synthetic bodies. These now disoriented Geth gave the pinned down fire team a real chance to return fire, shredding Geth troops left and right. I stopped counting the clips I dropped as I fired round after round at the enemy, occasionally shifting position whenever I could. Within a few minutes, the last of the Geth fell, and I trotted over to the fire team.

"Wolfe, I thought I told you to get your ass the hell out of dodge!" I smirked to him as I slid over their portable cover and gave the Staff Sergeant a half hug.

"What, you think I'd listen to a chicken shit order like that? I may be cold and anti-social, but that don't mean I hate ya!" he couldn't help but smile as I glanced around.

"Is this all that's left of the company?" he sighed, shaking his head.

"No, this is all that's left of the battalion." I cursed to myself as one of the engineers shouted.

"We got more in bound!" I took a quick glance at the surroundings, seeing a portable ladder a few feet away, and a rooftop it could easily reach.

"Hayward, on me!" I sprinted to the ladder before anyone could protest, propping it up against the building and instantly sliding up it. Hayward was right behind me, his massive, muscular build making him an excellent SAW gunner. We crawled on our stomachs to the edge of the roof, him folding the bipod out for his Revenant. I closed my eyes, my entire body seeming to vibrate again. When my eyes opened, the red diamonds marking enemies were just about to storm through the courtyard. I held up a fist, waiting for them to slide into combat positions. Their weapons fired their strange plasma, cutting clean through friendly kinetic barriers. Once the enemy was focused on the main team, I nodded to Hayward. Both of us opened fire, almost simultaneously. Geth units were being absolutely shredded as we fired, until I heard a much louder zinging crack, a teal lance ripping clean through Hayward's faceplate. I cursed, putting my rifle away and taking his Revenant and opening fire. The weapon overheated, its systems preventing it from firing until its clip was replaced. Husks were rushing out of the alleys and through the buildings as I finally managed to ram a thermal clip into the receiver. The revenant was making short work of the Husks, literally tearing their bodies apart. But it wasn't fast enough, as the massive swarm quickly over ran the group below, ripping and tearing at the soldiers. The weapon over heated again, but I was too distracting to reload, my eyes glued to the horrific bloodshed beneath me. The sergeant was backed into a corner, firing his M3 Predator as fast as he could. I saw the telltale blast of white vapor as the weapon overheated, just before the Husks reached him. I closed my eyes and screamed, no longer caring whether I survived or not.

* * *

Tali felt the mass effect corridor disappear, less than a second after it had come. She didn't even have a chance to brace when the Mako hit the ground with enough force to send it tumbling. By the time the Mako came to a stop, it was on its top. She had lost her grip and her body was covered in bruises. She groaned as she lifted herself off the deck as Shepard shouted.

"Alright, everyone alive!?" the others slowly sounded off until it was Tali's turn, all reporting bruising with the exception of Wrex, who was audibly giggling about the crash.

"I'm fine, just a little banged up." She let Liara open the hatch and slip out first, quickly following her. The others slowly slipped out as she inspected the damage to the Mako. The entire engine block was nothing but fused metal and smashed engine parts. One of the wheels had come off, most of the randomly bent at odd angles. Wrex had to force his hatch open and climb over the tank. They had landed in the presidium, a high end rich section of a massive deep space station known as the Citadel. The presidium was a ring that connected five long flat arms, extending straight out into space. Gravity was stimulated by the rotation of the station, so that the wards had close to most planet's normal gravity. All except the presidium tower, which used element zero based gravity generators. The presidium tower was literally a long structure sticking off the presidium. The entire presidium was open, with a massive river like lake spanning it that was strange to look at, given the ground curved up, rather than down like on a planet. There was a giant Mass relay statue, as most everyone else thought it was, out on one of the causeways behind them. She had only been on the presidium once or twice, her race being shunned by society for accidently making the sentient Artificial intelligence known as the Geth. She heard an eerie metal on metal scraping sound and turned, instantly pulling the M8 off her back. A cluster of giant spikes on tripods were telescoping down until the mutated Husks on them could stand up. The Alliance had dubbed them, Dragon's teeth, and were used to create the abominable creatures. She aimed and fired a burst without hesitation, watching as one of the Husks slumped off the tooth, dead. The others saw her firing and opened fire themselves, easily shredding the small group.

"Alright, everyone, go for the tower!" they moved as a group, each person watching a different direction. It seemed quiet, but they passed multiple fires and and areas that clearly had firefights in them. They reached the tower elevator to find a cluster of C-sec corpses scattered around portable defense walls. She didn't recognize any of them, but Garrus stooped over one of the corpses and cursed. Before anyone one could speak, Geth plasma rounds started ripping into the area, forcing everyone behind the barriers. Kaidan lifted one of the troopers in the air, Garrus firing his M97 Viper sniper rifle into its face. Tali waited a few seconds as Liara blasted a group off their feet with her biotics. As they were standing up, both Shepard and herself fired their rifles into the downed Geth.

"Saren is getting all the time he needs to give sovereign what he what's while we fight these things!" Sovereign was a sentient starship of unknown age, a member of the race known as the reapers, who came once every fifty-thousand years to wipe out all advanced life from the face of the galaxy. The few times she had seen it, terrified her. It was at least two kilometers long, and could pull maneuvers that no other ship she had seen could do. It looked similar to a giant hand or squid, with seven long fingers attached along its curved hull.

"Alright! Tali, Garrus, on me, everyone else, hold here, and don't let a single one of these bastards follow us!" Tali followed him into the elevator, slapping the holo for the council chamber as soon as Garrus and Shepard were inside. A calm instrumental piece played softly through the elevators speakers as they raced up the shaft.

"Well, this is odd to say the least." Tali couldn't help but laugh with the other two at Garrus's words.

"Yeah, just keep your game faces on people, this aint over yet." She nodded to Shepard as they fell into silence, simply listening to the soothing music. The elevator came to a stop and they rushed out, weapons raised. Geth were swarming the rising tiers above them, already firing. Tali fired back, watching as Geth after Geth dropped under her fire they stormed up the ramp, bum rushing the Geth. They moved so quickly and knocked out so many Geth in such a short amount of time, that the other Geth were actually fleeing before them, scrambling to find decent cover, only to find that the rock or Railing they hid behind, was already behind the small team. They reached the top of the chamber, a large audience hall that the council held its official meetings in. the council would stand on a raised area, behind three podiums, with a massive window out into the space within the five arms of the station. With the station's arms being closed, all they could see through this window, was the underside of Sovereign, the reaper, and the sprawling city's known as the Wards, built onto the inside of the five arms. Just below the raised area for the council, was a massive rectangular opening, looking down on a glass protected garden. Directly across from the council, was a long platform that jutted out over the glass, where anyone addressing the council would stand. They saw Saren here, hacking his way through a group of firewalls, about to reach the master control unit for the station, where he could give station control to Sovereign. Once Sovereign had control, the machine could open the Citadel relay, letting the Reaper Fleet pour into the galaxy from the dark beyond the rim. Saren glanced back as Tali ran beside Shepard, then stepped off the end of the walkway. He floated back up into the air, riding his hover board.

"Shepard! I almost thought you weren't going to make it in time for the show!" Saren fired a pair of hand cannon rounds at them, causing the group to split and dive for cover.

"Sorry I was late, had leave an army of dead Geth to get here!" Tali smirked, having fought that army alongside him.

"But you are too late! Soon, Sovereign will have control of the station and he will activate the relay. The reapers will return!" Shepard popped out of cover, his rifle already aimed.

"It isn't too late to stop them! We can kill Sovereign, and never activate that relay! The Reapers will have to come from dark space! That will take them years! Enough time to prepare for them!" Saren shook his head, his glowing blue eyes showing just how much more cybernetic he had become.

"No! Nothing can stop the Reapers!" She could see Shepard grin from where she was.

"I can." And he fired, the rounds punching into Sarens head. Tali guessed the barriers that normally protected him were down for some reason. He slumped off the board and fell, smashing through the glass and landing in a heap at the bottom. They rushed up to the master Control, loading the bypass that Vigil had given them. Shepard managed to open a comm line and a voice flooded through.

"Commander, is that you?" Tali smirked at the sound of Joker's voice."

"Joker, status, now!" there was a second of lag between Shepard's words and the response.

"I linked up with the fifth and second fleet, just open the relays around the citadel and we can tackle that behemoth." He was about to do so when a new voice came across all channels, even their suit radio's.

"This is the Destiny Ascension, Mayday! Our barriers are down to fifteen percent, our engines are dead! We have the council on board, I repeat, we have the council on board! If we don't get help soon, we are dead in the water, I repeat!" Shepard switched back to the comm with the Normandy, instantly speaking.

"Joker, I'm opening the relays! Save the Ascension, then I'll open the station and let you guys at Sovereign!" Garrus put his hand on Shepard's shoulder as he spoke.

"Are you sure that's wise commander? We are going to need every ship to kill that behemoth."

"I'm sure, now, you two, go make sure he's dead." Tali nodded and dropped down to the garden below. The landing hurt a little, but didn't injure her as they both moved up to the body of Saren. She put the assault rifle away and pulled the Katana Shotgun off her back, aiming at his head and pulling the trigger. Blue blood and brain matter spattered the ground beyond his head.

"He's dead." She could barely hear the radio traffic above, but based on the way the tower was shaking, allied ships were attacking sovereign. She was about to follow Garrus to an access stairway when the entire room started to shake violently. The platform above snapped, bringing Shepard down with it. "Shepard!" she stumbled her way to him, fighting the shaking and heaving floor. She reached him as he raised himself up, coughing metal dust out of his lungs. He glanced over her shoulder, just before lunging into her. An electric blue streak shot past her vision, both Shepard and herself sprung to their feet as what looked like a Turian skeleton perched on the wall ahead of them. Its eyes glowed a vibrant red, chilling Tali to the bone.

"I am Sovereign! And I **_Will _**be the Vanguard of your destruction!" she had heard that voice once before, in Saren's base on Virmire. She gulped down her fear and fired her shotgun, the scatter shot denting the metal shell. It leapt toward a different wall, a red blast lancing away from its face. Tali narrowly ducked it, but it still knocked out her barriers. It leapt straight at Shepard, and he side stepped, catching Saren's skeleton with the stock of his rifle. It slammed into the ground, casting dirt across the floor. Sheppard then slammed his foot down on the neck and emptied his rifle into its head. The creature squealed as the metal glowed red hot, melting into the floor. Shepard dropped a grenade on the remains and the group disappeared up the stairs as it went off. They were on their way toward the elevator, still near the top of the tower, when the entire structure shook. Outside, she could see the dreadnaught exploding outside, the trail of a Mass Accelerator round having ripped clean through the vessel. A massive chunk was rushing toward the glass as Shepard screamed.

"Run!" the piece slammed into the glass, blasting debris all across the area, one of the metal fragments glancing off her helmet, and knocking her out cold.

* * *

I froze as I crested the final hill toward Natalie's house. The farm in front of me had blast marks all over it. My feet carried me to the house, shouting her name over and over as I ran. The Geth had pulled out about an hour before, leaving behind the zombie like husks they had made, likely in the thousands. Inside the house, I found the corpse of her Father, a plasma hole clean through his chest. There was a small basement on the home that I rushed to, retching the door open. a pair of Husks rushed at me from the basement, and I barely managed to fire in time, killing both. My heart leapt into my throat, knowing that Natalie was an only child. Downstairs, there were the two strange spikes that I had seen being used to create the Husks. My legs slipped out from under me, seeing a small silver necklace on the floor beside on of the spikes, knowing who it had belonged to. Tears streamed from my eyes as I screamed, no longer caring about what could be in the area.


	3. Chapter 3

**So here is chapter three. FYI, i'm sorry about all of the big time jumps, but this could still be considered the prologue. the next chapter will be the real start of the story. anyway, i hope you enjoy, and as always, please review. i could use all the info i can get.**

* * *

**Three Months Later**

Tali settled into her usual spot her, on a low window sill, just staring out into space. Ships slowly drifted by in silence, and she eventually turned off her audio so she wouldn't have to listen to the crowds of people swarming past. Even with the amount of destruction caused by Sovereign when it exploded, life on the citadel went on.

_She slowly opened her eyes as she heard the sounds of distant voices. Pieces of rubble and the Reaper ship surrounded her and Garrus, creating a small dark cavern, the only light being from a sparking power conduit where the piece of the ship had smashed through the Citadel atrium._

_"She-Shepard?!" her voice was weak as she tried to move toward the upper area of the atrium. It was covered in debris, the ship piece having literally slammed into the floor and bounced as it shattered into hundreds of smaller pieces. She felt Garrus grab her arm and her eyes shifted to him. He just shook his head as tears slipped out of Tali's eyes. Suddenly, she was blinded by light as someone moved a piece of debris out of the way behind them._

_"Anderson! We found them!" she shielded her eyes as they adjusted to the new light, coming from the C-sec officer's omni-tool. Omni-tools were made from flash created matter, held in suspension by mass effect fields to create a holographic interface around the user's fore arm. Different omni-tools could do different things, depending on their program. Using a micro fabricator system, they can flash create parts and other pieces to even the most complex equipment, provided the material is provided. Some even had programing to flash produce melee weaponry. Most could be used as a flashlight, although, not as good as an actual flashlight. Captain Anderson, a dark skinned, aged soldier, and the previous commander of the Normandy before it was given to Shepard, stepped through behind the officer. The group was silent as a couple more officers helped Tali and Garrus to their feet. A sound behind her drew Tali's attention, and she turned her head in time to see a flash of a figure, dropping form a piece of rubble. She shoved off from the C-sec officer, nearly falling over as she took a step toward where she had seen the figure. After a second or so, Shepard came over a rise in the debris, his armor battered and scarred, but clearly having done its job. A wave of relief seemed to wash over the group as he limped down to them, cheers erupting from everyone, herself included._

A single tear fought its way out of her eye as newer memories started to flood her mind. It had only been a few weeks since she had left the Normandy, and she missed everyone that had been on board. She had wasted her money away, never having gotten work again, and not having enough to return to the Fleet, she found herself just drifting across the Citadel, out of money and scavenging for scraps, sleeping in window sills to try and make it look like she was just watching space. No matter how much she fought it, memories flooded her vision again.

_The escape pod was well and clear of the Normandy when she yanked the clamp free of her shoulders, staring back at the crippled vessel behind them. The once beautiful vessel had been torn to pieces in a single attack, only two of its engines still operating. Someone was clearly fighting to keep the ship flying, but she knew a dead ship when she saw one. And the Normandy was definitely a dead ship. Suddenly, yellow beams of destruction started ripping through the ship again, cutting clean through the ship. The engines stopped flaring as an escape pod launched from the bridge. **He made it!** The thought had barely crossed her mind when the ships reactor suddenly blew, blasting the once beautiful ship into nothing but ragged pieces. One flailing piece drew her attention and she grabbed Garrus's sniper rifle, using it to magnify the image. She recognized the armored form, the blood red stripe along his right arm unmistakable. Air was venting from his suit as he squirmed in agony. His movements stopped, just before flame engulfed the corpse as it fell into the atmosphere._

More tears started to flow out of her eyes as a ship drew her attention. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the quad engine design, only to realize that it was nothing more than a bulky human transport, likely carrying supplies for use in repairs to the citadel. She sighed as she closed her eyes, hugging her legs closer to her and rested her head against the window to try and get some sleep. She was just starting to nod off when she was jerked off her feet. She almost smiled when she saw the Turian, only to realize that the C-sec officer gripping her arm was not her friend.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she went wide eyed rushing to find an explanation.

"I was watching the ships go by. It… it reminds me of home." He grunted as he pulled a pair of cuffs out of a pouch on his belt.

"Yeah, and what about the other dozen times I've seen you sleeping here, ya damn vagrant." She felt her heart start racing as he forced her hands behind her back, and was starting to put the cuffs on her when a voice startled both of them.

"What are you doing with my friend, officer?" even though the voice was wrong, she half expected to turn and find Garrus standing there. She was shocked to see an Alliance soldier, his deep blue formal uniform all too familiar, with a handful of medals pinned above his name. The tag on his chest read Wolfe.

"Friend? Hah, get lost kid. No damn way would a human be friends with a Quarian." The officer finished cuffing Tali as the human raised an eyebrow at him.

"Her name is Tali Zorah nor Rayya. Now will you let my friend go?" he grunted at the human, who had caused Tali's mouth to drop.

"Hmph, you're bluffing. Quarian, do you know this man?" she saw the almost imperceptible nod the human did.

"Yes, I do. He's First Lieutenant Wolfe. He's a soldier in the systems alliance." Human soldiers usually had rank insignia on their uniforms, and she had picked up on what the different symbols meant during her almost four month stint on the Normandy.

"Alright, then explain to me why she's been sleeping in this window here for the past two weeks?" he smirked as he glanced at it.

"She hasn't been sleeping there, she just likes to watch the ships. Reminds her of the migrant fleet. Although, I have caught her nodded off a few times." He winked at her, almost as if he was making it a personal joke between them. "She's been staying with me for the past few weeks. It's only while she tries to make enough money to buy a ticket home, so she isn't registered as a resident. Now will you let her go before I start calling captains down here?" the Turian cursed and uncuffed her.

"I'm watching you. If your story doesn't check out, I'm arresting _you _for obstruction of justice." The human shrugged as the Turian stomped away.

"Thanks…" she was about to continue when he shook his head, again, almost imperceptible. He lead the way throught the crowded streets before he subtly jerked his head at a code locked door.

"Eight-eight-one two." She punched the code in and walked into the private apartment complex, shocked when he suddenly spoke. "I'm sorry but, you are probably going to need to actually stay with me for a few days. Until this blows over at least." She nodded, still shocked that he was helping her.

"How did you know my name? And, why are you helping me?" he smirked as he opened a door into a small but cozy apartment, letting her go first.

"Saw you a few days ago. You still have an active Alliance IFF tag. Wasn't hard to connect the dots. Heard your name in a report about the 'saviors of the Citadel'. And you needed help. Wouldn't do anything less, even if you didn't help stop the Geth. What are you even doing sleeping in a window?" she sighed, dropping into one of the chairs.

"I didn't have enough money to go home, and no one wants to hire a Quarian these days." He nodded as he pulled some combat fatigues out a closet, leaving the top in the closet. He slipped into the bathroom, and came out a few minutes later, dropping a small wooden box on the counter before stowing the dress uniform in the closet. While he was doing that, she gingerly opened the box, too curious to stop herself. There was gold star shaped medal inside that she recognized from Shepard's office.

"Why do you have a medal of honor? If I may ask." When she looked back at him, there was a flash of pain that quickly disappeared, replaced with one of annoyance. He grabbed to wooden box, closing it before stuffing it in the closet.

"Are Quarians always sifting through other peoples stuff?" she shook her head before she spoke.

"No, I'm sorry, curiosity got the best of me." Silence fell between them, making Tali more and more uncomfortable by the minute. "Was it a family members?" he looked up at her, confused. "The Medal of Honor?" he shook his head, that same pained expression as before.

"No. it's mine." She knew from Shepard that it was rare for anyone to receive a Medal of Honor while they were still alive, which made her even more curious.

"But, then how did you earn it?" he glared at her, clearly becoming annoyed very quickly.

"When your whole unit dies, and you don't, they like to slap a medal on you and call you a hero. Why else would I be wandering the Wards in a dress uniform? Was on my way back from the ceremony when I ran into ya." she sighed as she moved to the couch. _If I'm not going to get along with him, I might as well get some sleep_. She curled up on the couch, about to close her eyes when he spoke again. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Going to sleep." He walked over to her and forced her to stand up, marching her over to the bed and forcing her to sit down.

"Then use the damn bed. Can't sleep on it anyway." She stared at him for a few seconds, watching him as he prepared a meal for himself. She watched him for a while, not knowing what to think of him as he ate his food, then proceeded to clean a rifle and pistol she had never seen before. Finally, exhausted, she fell back on the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

I glanced over as the Quarian stirred from her sleep, slowly sitting up and stretching. My attention shifted back to the disassembled Mattock in front of me, finishing the adjustment to the electro magnet before reassembling the weapon.

"I'd be hoping too much for there to be Dextro based food in here, wouldn't I?" I nodded as I hit the switch that collapsed the Mattock down for storage. There were two main forms of carbon based life, each relying on either Dextro based amino acids or Levo based. Only two races were Dextro based, the Quarians and the Turians. Levo based food literally does nothing to a Dextro based lifeform, simply flowing through the system, unless you happened to be allergic to it, then it kills you.

"Gimme a bit, and we'll go get you some food." She just watched as I slipped the rifle back into my assault pack, sitting on top of the gear pile in the closet. I pulled the tactical belt out and strapped it on, having already pulled the rifle magazines and the drop down rig that had my knife on it, off of the belt. The rest was still on it, including the pistol, a barrier generator located in the pouch at the back of the belt, along with the cloaking systems and the HUD systems. I pulled a small eyepiece up under my white t-shirt and out the neck, letting it dangle over my shoulder as I pulled a black leather jacket on. The Pistol was loose on my thigh, only because I had not adjusted the straps for my unarmored leg. I signaled for her to follow me and we marched out into the streets of the Wards.

"Alright, whatever you want, just lead the way." She nodded and led the way through the streets, eventually stopping at a Turian street vendor. I stared at the floor as we sat on a bench, herself stuffing food through the intake as fast as she could until it was all gone.

"Thank you…." She hesitated, clearly not knowing what to call me.

"Damion. My name is Damion." She nodded as silence fell between us again.

"How much do you need to get home?" she stared at me for a few seconds, puzzled.

"Why?" I smirked as I opened my omni-tool.

"Because I want to help pay you're ticket. Gets you out of my hair." She shifted where she was sitting as she spoke.

"Thank you for the offer, but, I'd rather handle it myself." I shrugged, not surprised by her saying that.

"Well, one way or another, I ship out in two weeks for training and reassignment. You got till then to make the money you need. Otherwise, I'm buying you that ticket. We clear?" she nodded staring off into the distance. Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew what she was feeling. "Who'd you lose?" she startled at the sound of my voice.

"I… What?" her voice sounded totally bewildered.

"It's in your body language." She nodded, staring off into the distance for a while.

"I lost a close friend of mine. Shepard, THE Shepard. He saved my life, and now, I can't repay him for that." The silvery orbs that were her eyes disappeared and her body shuddered.

"Well, I'm going to head back to the apartment. Unlike you, I haven't slept. You remember how to get there right?" she nodded and I continued. "And the code is?"

"8-8-1-2. And I think I'll join you. Didn't get much sleep myself." I nodded as I stood and stretched, letting her led the way back to the apartment.

* * *

Tali slowly sat up, desperately wanting to rub her eyes and sore muscles, cursing suited life. She had a friend pull strings to get her work, repairing damaged C-sec sky cars from the Geth attack. Problem was, after three days, she already had all but one operating at above spec, leaving her to soon be jobless again. She sighed as her eyes adjusted to the dark room she expected to see Damion asleep on the floor, as was his usual. Instead, he was leaning up against the wall, sidearm and jacket already on. His eyes were fixed on something in his hands, but what shocked her, was the tears in his eyes.

"Damion?" he jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. She slung out of the bed and sat beside him.

"Morning. Didn't see you were awake." She gestured toward the silver chain she could now see in his hands as she responded to him.

"What's that?" he sighed and held it out to her, letting it drop into her hand. It was a small necklace, the main piece of it being a small blue gem, surrounded by a dozen much smaller clear gems. "It's beautiful. Who's was it?" she handed it back to him, but he remained silent for a while.

"A…a friend of mine. She's dead now." Tali frowned and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He made no movement to even acknowledge her hand, continuing on his own. "Her name was Natalie. I was stationed on a colony world called Ariel with the one-forty-second Air Assault battalion. I met her on patrol and we became, well, closer than close. When the Geth fleet passed through the system on its way to the citadel, a detachment was deployed to Ariel to annihilate the population. Within three hours, the entire population was either dead, or a husk. I managed to fight my way back to her home, but…" his voice froze, more tears slipping out of his eyes. "They turned her into…" she gently squeezed his shoulder as he buried his face in his hands. She had fought Husks, but had never known who they had been. She knew they used to be people, but she couldn't imagine fighting one that used to be someone she knew.

"That's horrible! i…" her voice cut out, not knowing what to say. He took a deep breath before wiping the tears from his eyes. He laced the chain through the strap release that held his handgun in the holster, running it through a few times before dropping the pendant through the loop of the chain, securing it in place.

"It's the past. Not like it's the first time I lost someone. I was stuck on planet for three weeks, fighting the husks the Geth left behind. Spent a month in the hospital, rest of the time since here." she stood and offered him a hand up. He accepted it and she was pulling the slim soldier to his feet when his Omni-tool began to ring. He answered the call and an image of Councilor Anderson appeared, shocking Tali.

"First Lieutenant Wolfe. I would like your presence in my office, as soon as it's convenient for you." Tali stepped around so she was visible in the camera.

"Captain Anderson?!" he smiled when he saw her.

"Tali? Is that you? And actually, it's officially 'Admiral' now. What are you doing there?" she smirked, knowing they wouldn't see it.

"Found myself being pulled out of the fire by a human again." Anderson rolled his eyes as he continued.

"And please bring Miss Zorah nor Rayya as well." Wolfe nodded, his face no longer sad, instead, looking like it was made of steel.

"Sir I'll be on my way now, sir." He closed the call and looked to Tali, some of the earlier signs of pain returning. "Well, best be on our way." She nodded and followed him out of the room.

* * *

Anderson opened the holo terminals in his office, beginning the call with the other councilors. One by one, they appeared. First the Asari, then the Turian, and finally the Salarian.

"Councilor Anderson. May we ask the reason for this unscheduled call?" the female like Asari was the one to speak.

"Yes, councilors, I have called a person to my office who I believe you should meet. He should be here in a few minutes, what I want to discuss with you before he gets here, is the possibility of him becoming a Spectre." The group seemed to nod in unison, the Turian councilor already speaking.

"What makes you think he is qualified?" Anderson typed a few keys on his Omni-tool as he spoke.

"I have just sent you his official military record. Little is known of his civilian record, but his military one is outstanding." The Salarian Councilor spoke up before he could continue. Salarians were an amphibious race, with very thin bodies and massive, insect like eyes, not to mention the two horns, curving toward each other from the top of their heads. They were a very short lived species, the average life span only being about forty years. Although short lived, they made up for this with an average intelligence near what a human would call a genius.

"It says here his range scores are average, and his combat range scores are actually below average." Anderson put up a hand for silence.

"It isn't his weapon accuracy we are looking at. He survived for three weeks, in a city filled with Husks, after a brutal battle with Geth forces without support. There is also strong evidence that he was engaged by Batarian Mercenaries and Slavers as well. He may not be the best fighter, but he excels at tactics and surviving. He is already scheduled for an accelerated version of the N7 program, focusing on the investigative side." The Asari councilor cut him off this time.

"Wait, it says here he is only nineteen years old? I am not altogether familiar with human years, but, is that not extremely young for your species? Shepard was almost ten years older." Anderson nodded before he continued.

"That is why I am suggesting he goes through the N7 program, then works with a Spectre in the field, so we can have direct eyes and reports on his abilities and skills." The Asari nodded, and they were about to say more when Ambassador Udina's voice spilled out of his rooms intercom.

"Anderson, you have two visitors, First Lieutenant Wolfe and a Quarian." He nodded, speaking back.

"Alright, ask Tali to wait in there, send Wolfe in please." The door opened, letting a slim soldier step through. He had an outdated side arm on his thigh, and although he was wearing uniform pants, his top consisted of a white T-shirt and thin leather jacket. His light brown hair was just out of regulation length, and his steel grey eyes searched the room with a sort of experience and caution that did not fit the features of his youthful face. He saluted the second he saw Anderson, and Anderson returned it.

"Fellow Councilors, I would like you to meet First Lieutenant Damion Wolfe of the One-Forty-Second Air Assault Battalion." He nodded respectfully to the councilors, instantly speaking.

"Respectfully Admiral, but I cannot be a member of a unit that no longer exists, sir." Anderson nodded as he continued.

"As you may know, he is one of the few living recipients of the Medal of Honor, the highest commendation a member of the Alliance Military can receive." The Asari councilor was the first to speak.

"It is an honor to meet a rare individual such as yourself." He frowned as he responded to her.

"Respectfully ma-am, but I just survived. I'm no hero. Just a survivor." The Turian councilor grunted, crossing his arms.

"So you don't respect the opinions of your superiors?" he stuttered for a second, clearly caught off guard by the response.

"I.. Respectfully, I do value the opinions of my superiors, I just, well, my job was to protect my team mates, and I failed. Honestly, they should be the ones standing here, not myself, sir." The Turian unfolded his arms, nodding in approval.

"Then you have earned that medal." Anderson finally took over.

"I assume you have not been briefed as to the nature of the training you shall be receiving before re-deployment, have you?" he shook his head and Anderson continued. "You will be going through an accelerated version of the N7 program, initially testing your current abilities and training you in the areas you are lacking in to be an N7 operative. At the end of such training, you will be assigned to a new task force, to be working under complete control of the Citadel and the council. I want to ask your opinion on this before I send the final orders." He glanced between the councilors and Anderson before he spoke.

"It's not a matter of opinion or choice, if you believe me to be needed as an N7 operative, then that is where I will go." Anderson sighed about to speak when he continued. "But, you asked for my opinion, so here it is. This isn't about me and the N7 program, I would say that this is about something else. Maybe the Spectres, maybe some new kind of task force, I don't know, but I intend to find out, sir." Anderson raised an eyebrow at him, glancing at the counselors. All three of them were visibly impressed by the soldier.

"Well, that is settled. Councilors, if I may, I will call you back later." They nodded as he keyed up his intercom again. "Udina, please let Tali in." Wolfe spoke up as soon as he finished speaking.

"Request permission to leave, Admiral?" the door opened and Tali walked in, her usually beautiful exo-suit filthy and poorly maintained.

"Why?" Wolfe glanced between the two of them, already speaking.

"Well you two clearly have a history of some sort or another, and I am not one to step between things such as that. Keeps life simpler that way." He nodded and Wolfe saluted before leaving.

"Tali, it's good to see you. How have you been since…" she sighed, leaning on the railing and looking out at the lake that ran around the presidium.

"Not good. I miss Shepard. A lot. I've lost most of my money, but I'm surviving. Just hope that Geth data Shepard shared with me will be good enough for my pilgrimage." Anderson squeezed her shoulder gently.

"You know you could have come to me for help." She nodded and shrugged.

"I know, but you have enough on your plate with the mess the Geth left you. Anyway, I should go, before I'm late for the work Garrus scrounged up for me." She waved goodbye and left, leaving Anderson alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Tali sighed as Wolfe and herself walked toward the gantry for the transport ship she had booked passage on. She could hardly believe that it had already been two weeks since they met. He was wearing his full armor, looking very intimidating even with his helmet dangling off his belt. He also had a duffel bag over his shoulder, filled with his clothes, and extra slugs and magazines for his modified rifle and pistol. Much to her surprise, she didn't want to say goodbye to the human, feeling like he was an adopted brother rather than someone she had met just weeks prior. And given the disappointed expression on his face, he felt similarly. She had already given him a way of sending messages to him through the Extra-net, but she knew it could easily be lost in cyber space, especially with how often the migrant fleet moved around.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." She nodded sadly, staring at the air lock to the small ship. "I'm going to miss you back on the fleet." He chuckled before he responded.

"Well, I'll do my best to message you when I can. No guarantee's though. No telling what's in store for me." She nodded and he pulled her into a rough hug, made all the harder by the fact that they were both wearing armor, but no less heart felt.

"Thank you for all of the help. It really means a lot. And if you ever happen to be near the migrant fleet, swing by and ask for me when you're hailed. Or call, whatever you can do." He let go of her and nodded, the two of them standing in awkward silence when a third voice joined them.

"Well, I didn't expect to find you here Tali." She instantly threw her arms around the fully armored Turian, her head didn't even come up to the Turians chin.

"Garrus! It's great to see you! Come to see me off?" she let go of her friend, puzzled to see the duffel bag over his shoulder.

"No. I quit C-sec. tired of all the red tape. Don't know where I'm going, just far away from here." Tali nodded, understanding where he was coming from. After working with a Spectre, life did feel rather restricted.

"Just be careful." He grunted, his eyes smiling for what his mouth could not do.

"Always am. You too Tali. I'm guessin this is the slick tonged human you mentioned. Tali nodded as they shook hands. "Glad to meet you, and thanks for pulling my friend out of the fire. We ever meet again, I owe you a beer." Wolfe grunted, a smirk on his face.

"I'll hold ya to that. I really got to go. Military docks are a bit of a hike away." He gave another quick hug to Tali before disappearing into the crowd like a ghost.

"Well you two seem cozy." She glared at Garrus as she responded.

"He's been kind to me, like I'd imagine a brother to be. Just hope he stays in touch." Garrus grunted before gesturing toward the gantry in front of them.

"I think your ship is about to cast off." She nodded and waved goodbye slipping onto the small personnel carrier and watching as the ship left the Citadel behind, venturing back out into space.


End file.
